


Map Your Body Like the Stars

by MercutioLives



Series: Freckle!Spock [1]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Body Image, Cute, Developing Relationship, Drabble, Fluff, Freckles, Insecurity, M/M, Post-Movie(s), Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-26
Updated: 2013-10-26
Packaged: 2017-12-30 12:29:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1018622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercutioLives/pseuds/MercutioLives
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim is absolutely mad about Spock's freckles. Spock isn't so sure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Map Your Body Like the Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hellaillogical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellaillogical/gifts).



> My dear friend Cass (spoopyvulcan on Tumblr) asked for a drabble in which Spock had freckles, and Jim loved them. She also wanted insecure!Spock. It's pure fluffy cuteness. Apologies for any cavities or diabetic comas which may ensue. X-posted to my [Tumblr](http://ozhesta.co.vu/).
> 
> (Takes place after Into Darkness.)

The first time Jim noticed, Spock was just getting out of the shower. They had only just begun their relationship in the wake of the incident with Khan and Marcus, and things were so very new and raw. They were still hesitant, yet were beginning to find that they unconsciously trusted each other with certain things. For Spock, it appeared that partial nudity was one of them. Jim stared at the half-Vulcan's back, watched as the muscles shifted beneath his skin in the act of walking across the room. He gaped at the way his shoulder blades flexed while he replicated a new uniform and bent to slide his trousers on beneath the towel he still wore. The modesty was adorable, but that was not what had captured Jim's attention.

"You have freckles." He hadn't meant to just blurt it out like that, but there it was. Spock paused and turned at the waist, towel bunched in his hands. His expression was almost impassive, and no one but Jim would have noticed the flicker of surprise -- and was that embarrassment? -- in those rich brown eyes. The Captain grinned in that way he did when he was trying to charm information out of someone. "I never noticed. Is that a normal Vulcan thing, or just a Spock thing?"

For about ten seconds (Spock could have provided him with an exact number, down to three decimal places), there was an awkward silence. Spock placed the towel in the laundry chute and tugged on his black uniform undershirt; Jim frowned. "Vulcans do not typically have freckles. It is a trait passed on to me from my Human side."

There was something in the tone of his voice that caused Jim to feel like he should apologize. He shifted a bit and patted the space directly beside him on the bed -- then realized that was stupid, since it was Spock's bed and he didn't need to be invited to sit on it. Another brief hesitation weighted the silence between them before Spock approached the bed, moving with a natural grace which Jim could only describe as feline in nature. He'd heard somewhere that Vulcans were evolved from some kind of cat-lizard creature, and as he watched his First Officer move, he was inclined to believe that. The bed bowed slightly beneath Spock's weight; there was a respectful distance between them, but Spock's posture was more relaxed than usual. It was something, at least.

"I, um, didn't mean to offend you," murmured Jim, wringing his hands in his lap and trying not to stare. "I just... I like that you're not like other Vulcans. You know? Not that other Vulcans are  _bad_ , definitely not. Just that I like you...better...the way that you are. I like that I can sometimes see things in your eyes, and I like that you're kind of sarcastic and sassy -- don't even deny it, you know it's true -- and I also like that you're sort of shy when we're alone like this..." He let himself taper off as he worried his lower lip with his teeth, sensing that he'd started to ramble. Tentatively, he glanced up to gauge Spock's reaction. The expression on the half-Vulcan's face was unreadable, but not, Jim didn't think, because he was trying to suppress what he was feeling. It looked more like he didn't know  _what_  to feel, and was trying to decide.

"...I appreciate your words," came that soft, velvet voice after at least twenty seconds. "You are aware that I struggle with my dual nature. Perhaps it is illogical to be sensitive regarding something as insignificant as dermal blemishes, but I cannot manage to overcome this particular neurosis." More silence: this time, Jim was simply in awe. It was more than Spock had ever deigned to tell him regarding his own insecurities, and he wanted to give the moment the reverence he felt it deserved. He reached out and cautiously, gently laid his fingers atop the back of Spock's hand. His First Officer did not return the gesture, but neither did he flinch from it.

"Thank you," he said, "for trusting me with that. Though, I have to disagree on one point." There it was: that eyebrow thing that Jim could never replicate, no matter how hard he tried. "They aren't blemishes. They're not  _flaws_ , Spock. They're... They make you unique, give you character. And I happen to think they're kinda cute. I know that doesn't fix anything, but I want you to know that I meant what I said before. I wasn't just blowing smoke up your ass."

"A curious idiom, which summons an admittedly disturbing mental image." Jim couldn't stop the guffaw that came out: leave it to Spock to completely puncture a moment with his literal interpretations. Of course, that was just one more thing that Jim adored about his First-Officer-slash-boyfriend. The eyebrow was back, along with a minute change in expression that communicated a more relaxed mood. Jim's hand was still resting upon Spock's, and neither of them appeared inclined to change that. The Captain yawned and scooted a bit closer, so that their shoulders were just brushing, command gold against black. Briefly, Spock bristled, but calmed almost immediately thereafter. He was trying, he really was, and Jim appreciated it more than he felt he could express.

With some hesitation, Spock turned his hand beneath Jim's, so that palm and fingers touched: a highly intimate gesture which, although he didn't quite understand the connotation, was not lost upon him. Jim grinned his thousand-watt smile, and it was returned with the slightest quirk of Spock's lips that made his insides  _melt_. He could fall for this shy, uncertain Vulcan; he knew he just might.

"It's okay if you don't want to, and I definitely don't want to force you..." he began, hoping that he wasn't overstepping any boundaries, "but I wanna see. Your freckles, I mean. Can I?" Spock looked over and met his gaze. He could see the insecurity, the hesitancy, but also a desire to please that hit Jim right in the heart. The next time anyone said that Vulcans had no emotions, he'd punch them in the throat. With slow, deliberate movements, Spock tugged off his undershirt, exposing his upper body once again. Really, he was gorgeous: from his green-tinged skin to the coarse mat of black hair across his chest and forearms -- and of course, the freckles of which he was so ashamed.

Jim studied them intently, and on closer inspection, found that they were all over. His chest, his arms, his shoulders, his back, even disappearing beneath the waistband of his trousers. Tiny brown speckles that reminded him of stars. He wanted to map them, memorize them: his own personal five-year mission, though he hoped it wouldn't take that long to earn Spock's trust. For now, this was enough. He smiled again, more softly this time, and pressed his first two fingers to Spock's in the manner he'd been taught was like a kiss. A faint sage-green blush spread across the half-Vulcan's cheeks and throat, and his eyes brightened ever so slightly.

"You're beautiful, Spock, y'know that? So beautiful. And no matter what you think, I wouldn't change a thing."

_the end?_

**Author's Note:**

> There may or may not be a part two. I really liked writing this, and I kind of want to work more with this 'verse, but I guess it depends on the response I get.


End file.
